Every Problem
by FutureAuthoress
Summary: ...has a solution. Agent Doggett leaves DC to uncover some chilling facts about a hotel manager and his evil schemes. My first ever X-Files fic! YAY! Rated T for some violence and peril, and based loosely on a dream I had.
1. Chapter 1

**Quick Author's Notes:**

**This is my first X-Files fanfic! YAY! Before I start, I have to explain why this comes off as SO weird—as in weirder than X-Files, weird.**

**I had a dream the other night, it seemed really cool!..at the time...but it didn't really make sense. So, I took the scenes that I remembered, mashed them with some stuff that I made up, answered a few questions, and **_**viola!**_** Here she is! **

**"Every Problem", an X-Files fanfic by Meg Trast. Purely fan made, non-profit. No copyright infringement intended.**

**-----**

I rushed to the injured FBI agent, who was leaning against a wall, listening to the fading shouts of the flustered bellhop.

A piece of glass sat atop his chest, but it hadn't punctured the skin—thank GOODNESS. My mother climbed out of the pool, looking confused. She mumbled something incoherent.

"Yeah, I know." I said.

"But why didn't he--"

"I don't know, mom!" I shook the man. "John, you okay?"

He groaned, but seemed perfectly fine. "Yeah...jus' a little disoriented." He had a big red spot on his head, that looked like it was going to leave a bump, but nothing more.

I glanced at Mum. She was staring at the downed agent.

"I don't understand how he could fall in the same place, but not..." her voice trailed off.

"I have no clue." I told her. "But I think this is something bigger than we thought before."

-----

**I apologize for the short chapter, just a quick introduction! READ AND REVIEW! Love to all ;)**

**-Meg**


	2. Chapter 2

"**Every Problem" by Meg Trast**

**Chapter Two**

Monday, June 5, _Five Days Earlier_

This was supposed to be a vacation. A quiet time for Mum, Larissa, and I to hang out. Quietly. The first thing that went wrong, was that there was an investigation in the hotel we were staying at to even begin with. I mean, seriously, there's got to be 15 hotels out here. Why this one?

But today, when that officer fell, I knew this trip was going to be more than we signed on for. And as I watched my sister extract a piece of glass from a young police officer's bicep, I coudln't help be annoyed.

She pulled the piece up just as an ambulance entered the scene.

"About time," I mumbled, watching them take the injured man away on a stretcher. I looked at the bloody, shattered mess around me, the bellhop apologizing profusely for the accident.

oOo

Later, upstairs in my room, Larissa and I hopped on the net to do a little research. We'd heard some noise about the case before, but the noise got louder when the police officer fell.

I was popping some pizza rolls in the microwave, when my sister got my attention.

"Hey Jorie, listen to this!" She called.

"Listening!" I replied. I punched some numbers into the microwave.

"Turns out this guy Leonard Conner, the FBI guy, isn't the first cop who had that accident. There was a police officer from the local station down here about a month ago, investigating the disappearance of a fourteen-year-old girl. It says that he was on his way out to his car, when he ran into a room service tray, knocking all of the contents off and impaling himself on an unidentified piece of metal. The hospital was unable to explain his death, and left the report at undetermined." She walked into the kitchen. "Is that pizza rolls?"

"Mmm, yeah." I replied, the microwave beeping.

"Excellent!" She said. We sat down on the couch and flipped the TV on, relaxing. A few moments passed where we were both content just to stare at the set.

Larissa spoke up again. "You know, Leonard Conner, he was investigating the death of the police officer."

"You think there's something else?" I asked, not averting my gaze from the mesmerizing television set.

"Tell me, Jorie, how are there two disappearances, one death, and a fatal accident, in one hotel in the same two months?"

I glanced at her. I opened my mouth to speak...but closed it again, coming up with no good reply.

She continued. "You know, there's a section of the FBI that deals with this sort of thing."

"Larissa...no. No no no. We are _not_ getting involved in this thing."

"But why _not? _Jorie, you used to want to be a criminal investigator! Surely this interests you!"

I sighed, and popped another pizza roll in my mouth, trying to buy thinking time. To be totally honest, this _did_ interest me. When I was younger, I'd field tripped to several police stations, asking a million questions, and always telling the officers on duty that I was going to be a cop when I grew up, or a forensic scientist. They'd just smile and nod. Thinking about it now, they'd probably heard that a million times from a million kids.

I swallowed my pizza roll. "Alright, fine. What do you know?"

A smile broke out across my red-headed sister's face. "Well, it's a unit called the X-Files. I hadn't really thought about them much, but they deal with cases deemed 'un-solvable'. You know Jackie? Well, she called them up last week when her mom disappeared—but that didn't turn out to be an X-File at all, her mom was just on vacation and had forgotten to mention it to Jackie." She smiled. "So can we call? I have the number and everything."

All right, before you start thinking of me as irrational for just following my sister blindly, you have to remember that I'd just seen something that freaked me out of my mind—in the hotel where I was pretty much stuck for the next few days. Mum had the plane tickets back home, and she wasn't about to let me leave. I mean, it's not like I didn't try—she's just really good at hiding plane tickets.

"Sure, but I'm going to do the talking." I said, hauling myself up off the couch and toward the hotel phone (Mum strictly forbade bringing my cell phone along on this trip, as it would, she claims, tempt me to stay involved in the office). Larissa handed me a small piece of paper that she pulled out of seemingly nowhere, and I punched the numbers in.

Two rings, and then a rough voice came in on the other line. "John Doggett, X-Files unit."

"Hello, Agent Doggett, um.." I wasn't quite sure what to say...I'd never placed a call to the FBI before. "This is Jorie DeAqua, I'm calling with concerns about some local activity.."

"What's the situation?" He asked.

His flat tone actually made me a little nervous, but I made myself speak. I explained what was happening, and he agreed to board a plane and meet me the next morning. I gave him a location, and hung up the phone, shaking a little. Larissa was smirking.

I glared at her. "What?!"

She shook her hands. "Isn't this exciting?"

Much as I agreed with her, I didn't want to play up her energy. She was psycho enough without knowing how excited I really was.

oOo

Tuesday, June 6

First thing the next morning, I was out of bed and about half a mile down the road, waiting at a little café. I was staring out the window, sipping on a glass of iced tea (I never drink coffee...it gives me a nervous breakdown after the caffeine wears off) when I saw a taxi pull into the parking space next to my rental SUV. A man in black slacks, a dark jacket, and a tie climbed out. He was pretty clean-cut, and I figured he must be the FBI agent. If he wasn't, then I couldn't figure what a man dressed like that was doing in a town like this, and my life was probably in danger. But, I had a very clear association in my mind with Mobsters and black goatees, so I figured I was okay.

I got up from my seat and met him at the door, as his cab drove off. "Agent Doggett?" I asked.

"Jorie DeAqua?" He replied, a quizzical expression on his face.

I nodded. "Join me for breakfast?"

"Sure."

A few minutes went by, and he was slowly eating a breakfast plate as I gave him the information that my sister and I had dug up from the Internet and some newspaper articles we'd found at the library. He just listened and nodded, his expression not giving away any thoughts.

Finally, he spoke. "And you know all this for a fact?"

I nodded. "As far as I know, and I've spoken to the local P.D. I also have a friend at the hospital who's keeping me updated on the condition of Leonard Conner. I also thought it best, y'know, under the circumstances, to kinda keep the whole thing quiet..."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." I could see that he was finished—he hadn't touched his plate in five minutes, so I stood up.

"C'mon, I'll take you to the hotel, I've got a room for you near mine so we can keep in contact." I threw a couple dollars for a tip onto the table, and John stood up as well.

I made a face as we walked into the parking lot.

"Somethin' wrong?" He asked.

I tilted my head to once side. "Well...see that Saturn over there?" I nodded toward a ratty, old, white heap of metal sitting on the opposite side of the parking lot.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"He pulled in at the time time that I did, and he's been sitting in his car the whole time."

The Agent stared at me.

I shook my head, smiling. "I'm sorry, it's probably nothing, I just...used to watch a lot of science fiction, and being in the position I'm in, I get a little..."

"..."

"My imagination just runs away."

He nodded, quietly, and I showed him which car was mine.

"I would have rented out a car for you, but mum thinks I'm ridiculous and Larissa can't drive yet, so--"

"Larissa?"

"Oh, my sister, sorry." We climbed into the front seats of the car.

"Your sister can't drive?"

"Well...she's 17, but she hasn't been able to pass her driver's test. In fact, I'm a little nervous about letting you meet her. She's...I can't say this nicely; she's nutty."

John raised his eyebrows and looked out the windshield.

_Tick...tick..._

That was a strange sound. I put my watch up to my ear.

_Tick...tick..._

No, that wasn't it.

_Tick...tick..._

"Agent Doggett, do you have a stopwatch on you?"

"No, why?"

A blue wire. I could see it in the rear view mirror. I jumped out of the car quicker than lightning and opened the trunk.

_Tick..tick.._

It was getting faster. I pulled the device out and threw it as far as I could toward empty land. It only traveled about 50 feet before it exploded, small pieces of plastic going in every direction in a fiery mess.

The white Saturn was gone.

When I found myself, I was surprised to see Agent Doggett standing next to me. "That was an awful small explosion." He commented.

"Big enough to take out a car. An SUV, maybe."

"But why so small?"

I looked at him, and then back at the shell. "Because, it was only meant to kill the two of us."


	3. Chapter 3

"**Every Problem" by Meg Trast**

**Chapter Three**

We arrived back at the hotel, and I showed John to his room—which he thanked me, again, for renting for him. I'd reluctantly allowed him and my sister to become acquainted, and I much regretted it only five minutes later. Larissa had attacked him with a shower of questions. The kind of questions you'd expect an 8-year-old to ask, not a 17-year-old. I'll spare you the details.

Wednesday June 7

Wednesday morning, Agent Doggett, Larissa, and I, all headed down to the pool area to investigate. Just checking out the area, watching for any traces of broken glass, stuff like that. Mum entered a few minutes later.

"Jorie?" She said.

I turned my head at the sound of my name. "Yeah?"

"Kelly at the hospital just called. She called about the police officer. Leonard Conner? He's dead."

I glanced over at John, and that worried/confused look played across his face once more.

"Where, exactly, did this happen?" He asked.

I stood over by the only way out of the pool that didn't go through the hotel; the gate. He looked around.

"You notice that there's no broken glass? Somethin' like that, you'd expect to find some slivers left over, right?"

I furrowed my eyebrows, staring around. "Well, it is a pool area...I'm sure they were really careful to clean it up."

"Tell me exactly what happened."

I went into a narrative. "Leonard was staying at the hotel to investigate...you know, the death of that other officer? I guess he didn't come up with anything solid, and was taking a break—swimming. Larissa, mum, and I, were all swimming as well. Some lady started freaking out, going on about how she couldn't find her little girl. So Leonard was getting out of the pool...I dunno, I guess he was going to go look for her, and he bumped into the bellhop. The bellhop was carrying an empty wine glass...it kinda broke when they collided, and Leonard took a few jabs. Two to his right arm, and one in the chest."

The agent stared at me or a long moment. "Jorie, I think you need to call your friend at the hospital. Get a tox. screen on the dead guy, Leonard Conner. I wanna see what that turns up."

We searched carefully for several more minutes, but couldn't really find any evidence of foul play. We retired to lunch in the hotel's restaurant.


	4. Chapter 4

"**Every Problem" by Meg Trast**

**Chapter 4**

Thursday, June 8

I was awakened to a phone call from my friend in the hospital. The tox. Screen? It came back negative. Leonard Conner had died from a puncture wound to his lungs.

Already awake, I elected to get up and start my day. I fished my clothes out of my suitcase, and then stashed it back underneath the bed before heading to the bathroom. But of course, it wouldn't be _my_ day unless something went wrong; I couldn't find my tooth brush.

oOo

About an hour later, there was a knock on my suite door.

"Who's there?" I called.

"It's Agent Doggett."

I stood up from the couch and glanced through the peephole, and then opened the door.

"Come on in!" I said, letting the door swing shut. "Tea?" I asked, meandering toward the kitchen.

"No, thank you." He said, staring around.

I came back a moment later carrying a hot mug filled with aromatic peppermint tea, and sat down on the couch. "So, any ideas?" I asked.

He joined me, and shook his head. "Nah, I can't figure anything...except, I've been thinking."

"...Yeah?"

"Do you really think this is such a great idea? I mean, investigatin' and all. After all, the last two guys who got involved in this thing died."

I bit my lip, contemplating for a moment. "Well, the only two people who know that you're involved are me, my sister, and Mum. And believe me, we're not killers."

"That guy who tried to blow us up in the parking lot obviously knew somethin'." He argued.

Again, I was unable to answer. That seems to be a weakness of mine...the inability to answer. I took a drink of tea. "I think you're right. Let's go check out my car for bugs."

And so we did, but our search came up empty. Searched my room, too. Tore it apart! And the room that Larissa shared with Mum. Those places, and the café, being the only places that we discussed our business, we came to the conclusion that the man in the parking lot was a psychotic killer who chose his victims at random, and figured the police must already be on it.

Our day moved on.

Figuring it safer not to draw attention, John decided to skip the routine questioning. Besides...neither of us could figure out what questions to ask. So, we agreed to stake out the lobby for the rest of the afternoon, and watch for suspicious activity.

Silence passed. I could tell that he wanted to talk, and I wanted to talk to...just, neither one of us could come up with good conversation.

"So...you live with your mom and sister?" He asked.

I shook my head. "No, I live in an apartment across town from them. Larissa doesn't want to leave home just yet, and I don't really blame her."

"Keep your mom company?"

"Yeah. My dad works a lot of double shifts, and sometimes is gone for weeks at a time."

"Any other siblings?"

"Nope, just me and Larissa. We have a cousin, but she lives in Wisconsin, so we barely see her. What about you, John? Any family?"

He was hesitant. I could see pain in his face, and almost regretted asking the question. But he answered with a steady voice. "No..my son died a long time ago, and my wife left me and wants nothin' to do with me. I'm an only child."

I lowered my gaze. "I'm sorry to hear that."

He shrugged. "It's alright. Been that way for years."

I smiled sadly, and I couldn't ask for more perfect timing; His cell phone rang.

"Excuse me," He said, and picked it up. "Hello?...Oh, hey Monica!"

As he carried out his conversation, I took note of the hotel manager exiting his office and walking outside...then standing, just standing, outside the huge, glass double doors.

"No, I'm not in D.C...."

A man showed up. He was garbed in dark black. He had a goatee.

"How's the family?"

They were arguing. I couldn't figure what about, but the discussion became more heated, until the man in the black suit had a final word, and the manager stomped back inside, steaming.

"Alright, I guess I'll see ya soon."

John clicked his phone off.

"Sorry, that was my partner. She just got back from New Mexico, I forgot to tell her I was leaving."

"Did you see that?" I asked, watching the manager's door swing shut.

"See what?" John sat up and turned around. "I missed it."

"Let's just say, this may be bigger than we thought..."


	5. Chapter 5

"**Every Problem" by Meg Trast**

**Chapter 5**

Friday, June 9

I slept in Friday morning. It was an accident...I'd stayed up late the night before later than usual. John and I had stayed in the lobby until about 11:00 before I realized what time it was. We said our goodnights, and I'd taken a bath and gotten ready for bed, then watched TV for another hour before I actually went to sleep. So I finally dozed off around 1:00.

Anyway, it was about 9:00 when my phone rang. At first, I didn't know what that sound was. My cell phone has a musical ring, so the traditional "Bring! Bring!" of the hotel telephone confused me.

I finally figured it out and picked up. "Hello?"

It was John. "Hey Jorie. Did I wake you?"

"No!" I lied. "What's up?"

"Well, your sister seems determined that we all go swimming today."

I sat up. "Larissa is over there now?"

"Actually, her and your mom both. They're insisting that we take a break from this thing."

I rubbed my eyes and pulled myself out of bed, fumbling around for my suitcase. "Uhh...that sounds like fun!" I said. "I'm uh..not ready for my day quite yet, been watching TV." I have a bad habit of making up little white lies when I don't want to tell someone what's actually happening. Oh come on, like I'm the only one!

"Alright. We'll meet you down in the pool area?"

"Sounds good." I said, pulling my socks off.

"Okay, bye." _Click._

I set the phone back in the cradle. "Bathing suit, bathing suit..." I mumbled, digging through my suitcase, before I remembered that I set it on the edge of the sink to dry.

oOo

An hour had passed. The trip to the pool had been, admittedly, relaxing. John had a playful side that you wouldn't expect from an FBI agent on duty, and he made my sister and I smile. Even Mum was enjoying herself.

Secretly, I was still on this case. I didn't say anything, because the whole point of this trip was to get my mind off of what was happening. But I couldn't help myself...there was a little secret agent in me DYING to get out. And she was getting her way, it would seem.

Another thirty minutes. Nothing suspicious seemed to be going on, really. Kids were throwing water bombs back and forth, tackling each other...it seemed like a quiet, peaceful June day.

But then...

"Jesse? Jesse?!" A young woman, sounding almost distressed, was calling out a name.

I approached her. "Ma'am, is something wrong?" I asked.

"Yes! My daughter...she left for the bathroom, but it's been 10 minutes now and she's not back."

I was quiet for a moment. I turned around.

"John?" I called.

Agent Doggett, who had just been engaged in a splash fight with my sister, held up a hand toward her. "Yeah?"

"It's probably nothing, but I need your help."

He came closer to me. "What's up?"

I lowered my voice so it was barely audible. "I'm going to go check the girl's bathroom, this woman? She can't find her daughter. Keep an eye out? And be careful?"

He nodded. I climbed slowly out of the pool, watching for slippery spots on the concrete, and made my way toward the bathroom. "Jesse?" I called. The name echoed through the bathroom. No reply. "Jesse? You in here? Your mom's concerned for your safety."

Still no answer.

I exited, and came back to the pool.

"Anything?" John asked.

I shook my head. "I'm afraid not."

He climbed out of the pool, and I noticed something.

I pointed toward the gate to the pool fence. "Right there," I whispered.

He followed my finger, and he saw it too. The bellhop. With a wine glass.

We exchanged glances, then John went one way, and I the other. Toward him. My plan was to confiscate the empty cup, but fate had another idea.

While I was watching my path for wet spots, John was concentrating on not bumping into the teenager.

He slipped. He wasn't far from the fence, and he knocked the bellhop off his feet. John's head hit the wall, and glass shattered on the concrete. The bellhop caught himself on his hands...which both landed directly in the mess of shattered glass.

"Aww, man!" He said, and ran inside, swearing loudly.

Carefully sidestepping the broken glass, I moved over to where John was. "You alright?"


	6. Chapter 6

"**Every Problem" by Meg Trast**

**Chapter Six**

Up in his hotel room, John had changed into a t-shirt and blue jeans. He was in a lazy chair, holding a bag of ice against his head.

I hung up the phone.

"The bellhop has been arrested, but he's not in good shape. They're beginning to suspect foul play."

"No, ya think?" John replied, and groaned again at the pain in his head.

"Keep your voice down." I told him. "You're hurting yourself. The glass remaining by the side of the pool is being sent to a chem lab for testing. Kelly said she'd update me when the results came in."

"The results are coming in to the hospital?"

"Don't ask."

It was quiet for a moment, each of us absorbed in our own thoughts.

"That little girl...where do you think she went? I mean, who took her?"

"Took her?" I looked over at him.

John stared at me. "Come on, you know a twelve-year-old girl doesn't just run off. Besides, wouldn't this be the third disappearance?"

I thought a moment. "That's true..."

"And how did they know that it was us? I mean, that kid didn't show up until you got out of the pool, I saw him walk in."

I was quiet again. My mind filled with thoughts. How _did_ they know it was us? We'd checked the rooms for bugs, listening devices, security cams...we hadn't found anything.

But then again...maybe we missed something. A light bulb went off in my head.

**"**John, do you want to go to that café for dinner tonight?"

"Sure...but why?"

I looked at the telephone. "Just a hunch..."

oOo

Later that evening, I drove Agent Doggett to dinner. But not to the café. It was a small restaurant across town. When we passed the spot, he asked me what I was doing.

"I'm not sure, but I think maybe it was the phones."

"The phones?"

"Yeah. That's how they knew who you were, who I was, and where to find us."

"You mean the explosive..."

"Wasn't random. There's someone in the hotel keeping tabs on everyone, and you have to wonder what for."

We had been sitting at the diner for about fifteen minutes when John's cell phone went off.

"Hello?...Who?...Oh, what is it?...Okay, thank you." _Click_. "That was your friend at the hospital. Lab results came in...iron." John told me.

"Beg pardon?" I felt slightly confused.

"The glass. It was coated in an iron supplement...which, she says, occurs naturally in the body, which is why--"

"Why it didn't show up in the victim's tox. screen." I mumbled.

"Right, but in large enough quantities, can kill you."

"But how do you coat glass in enough iron to kill someone? I mean...when I was younger, I used to take tablets of iron powder for my anemia."

"I dunno, but our guy from the hotel, the bellhop, he's dead too now."

I hit the table with an open hand. "This doesn't make any sense. How come...unless..." Something came over me. Some bizarre realization. It was sickening, but possible, and in this case, quite likely. I looked back at John. "Remember when we were in the lobby yesterday, and your partner called?"

"Yeah.."

"I saw the hotel manager go outside and talk to some guy...they argued about something, and the manager was very angry when he came back inside." I stared at my napkin.

"You got an idea?"

I bit my lip. "Just an inkling...but...do you think you could get some guys from the police department to check it out for me?"

"Sure." He seemed confused.

"Have them search the manager's office." I said. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

Driving back to the hotel, we passed the café; the little white Saturn was in the parking lot. John and I exchanged another set of glances, and I felt certain that I was right about this.

The hotel was a madhouse when we arrived. Police Officers everywhere, radios going off, and I saw the hotel manager being led, handcuffed, out to a police car. The same man that I'd seen the day before was also being led out, but not without a fight, spitting a long string of curses at the cops dragging him out.

"Excuse me," John asked a young cop. "Who's the officer in charge here?"

The man stared at us, and John flashed his ID, just in case there were any doubts about our intentions. The officer then pointed us to a tall black male standing by the hotel entrance.

We harvested as much information as we could from him:

The hotel manager, Judas Pernt, had been under suspicion for a while for kidnapping, but the police had been unable to prove it, much to the frustration of the department. He'd been dealing with Earl Harlington, a registered rapist/drug dealer who'd been out of prison for only two years, and by all accounts, clean. However, evidently the two had been dealing with a large sum of money. Pernt would grab little girls, as he'd been doing, and trade them to Harlington for whatever sum of drugs they'd agreed on. Pernt would then make a re-sell.

"Like I said, a lot of money was involved in this." The officer, who's name we soon discovered was Mike, told us.

"And the little girl? Jesse?" John asked, worry all over his face, as seemed to be characteristic for him.

Mike nodded toward something, and when John and I looked, it was the same woman we'd seen in the pool, crying and hugging a little black-haired girl, who seemed scared, but unharmed beyond that.

"And the others?" He asked.

"We're trying to get it out of Harlington." Mike replied. "Tellin' him we'll make his sentence milder if he does. Truth is...there's nothin' we can do for a kidnapper in prison. The inmates hate those guys."

"What about the hotel staff?" I asked. "How did the manager get them to play along in his little game?"

Mike made a face, looking around. "He told them there was a threat on his life, and theirs too, if they didn't cooperate."

"Do these people know that they're party to murder and kidnapping?" John asked. I could hear some ire building up in his tone, and gave him a warning touch on the arm; he needed to be calm.

"Not as far as we can figure." The officer replied. "They're being held for further questioning. The bellhop that we arrested earlier is dead, though."

"Iron poisoning?" I asked.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"I had a hunch." I replied, glancing at Agent Doggett.

Mike shook his head. "I don't know what kind of sick, twisted man uses little girls for trade." He mumbled. "It disgusts me."

"Thank you, Officer Tanner." John said, and Mike nodded.

"No problem." He walked off to join his squad.

I sighed, and glanced over at John. "What do you think, should I pursue crime fighting?" I asked.

He laughed.


	7. Chapter 7

"**Every Problem" by Meg Trast**

**Chapter 7**

I offered to drive Agent Doggett back to the airport that night, so that he wouldn't have to take another cab. He gladly accepted, and as we climbed back into the car, I felt the need to apologize.

"I'm sorry I wasted your time." I told him.

"How's that?"

"Well, turns out this wasn't an X-File after all, just a typical drug sell."

He sat forward and looked at me. I tried to keep my eyes locked on the road.

"It's not wasted time if innocent lives were saved." His voice sounded solemn, almost intense. I couldn't figure why, but we pulled into the airport parking lot and climbed out of the car.

"Well...it's been an interesting four days!" I told him. Honestly, it had been one of the most exciting things that happened to me, and I wished I could do it all again.

"It's been nice." John said, more to-the-point, and I felt myself blushing.

"Just one thing I can't figure," I said, furrowing my eyebrows.

"What's that?"

"How come those guys tried to kill us?"

John was quiet for a long moment. Then, he looked at me, and said "Well, every problem has a solution."

"Well, I hope to see you again, Agent John Doggett." I said, sighing.

"You too, Jorie." He replied, smiling.

I realized that I was practically glaring, so I softened my gaze and turned my mouth right-side-up.

Driving back to the hotel, I recounted the events in my mind. I honestly wished that I'd invited the agent to stay the rest of the week. Every problem has a solution. _I gotta remember that._ I told myself, trying to figure out why it seemed that John was implying a deeper meaning.

But hey, this was my vacation, right? A time to relax. Have some quiet moments with my family.

I could do this.

-----

**Sooo, what'd y'all think? Remember, this is my first X-Files fanfic! DON'T KILL ME! Surprisingly, my first X-Files fanfic was NOT Mulder and Scully, which is weird...to me.**

**Anyway, read and review, love to all!**

**Hugs! From Meg**


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